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Ethiopia has swept up thousands of ethnic Tigrayans into detention centers across the country on accusations that they are traitors, often holding them for months and without charges, The Associated Press has found
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his government could easily recruit one million new fighters but wants to foster a period of "silence" in the country's war-hit Tigray region.
Black Lives Matter D.C. filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, Attorney General William Barr, and the U.S. Park Police for violating their civil rights.
READ MORE: Donald Trump to hold next rally on Juneteenth in Tulsa
The plaintiffs of the suit include the Black Lives Matter D.C. organization and a number of local D.C. residents including a nine-year-old.
Lafayette Square was cleared so that President Trump could walk to nearby St. John’s Church where he posed with a Bible.
President Donald Trump holds a Bible as he visits outside St. John’s Church across Lafayette Park from the White House Monday, June 1, 2020, in Washington.
READ MORE: White House press secretary claims Juneteenth is a ‘meaningful day’ to Trump
The suit says that the incident kept Black Lives Matter D.C. from “exercising their rights to demonstrate” by “creating fear.”
[African Arguments] The state's one-sided narrative has not just shattered Ethiopians' shared understanding of reality but eroded the social fabric that held us together.
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (AP) — President Donald Trump said yesterday that his Administration will “not even consider” changing the name of any of the 10 army bases that are named for Confederate Army officers.
Name changes have not been proposed by the army or the Pentagon, but on Monday, Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy indicated in response to questions from reporters that they were “open to a bipartisan discussion” of renaming bases such as Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Benning in Georgia.
Supporters of disassociating military bases from Confederate army officers argue that they represent the racism and divisiveness of the Civil War era and glorify men who fought against the United States.
The US military recently began rethinking its traditional connection to Confederate army symbols, including the Army base names, mindful of their divisiveness at a time the nation is wrestling with questions of race after the death of George Floyd in police hands.
David Petraeus, a retired four-star army general, said the renaming move, which he supports, amounts to a “war of memory”, and that before deciding to rename bases like Fort Bragg, where he served with the 82nd Airborne Division, the Army must be ready to follow its own procedures for such change.
CARACAS, (Reuters) - Restrictions on civic space in Venezuela remain a cause for concern, U.N.
The article Restriction of civic space in Venezuela is worrying, says UN human rights chief appeared first on Stabroek News.
[Dalsan Radio] Somalia's new foreign minister, Mohamed Abdirqzak, has for the first time responded to the ongoing war in Ethiopia.
They said that Supreme State Security prosecutors and criminal court judges have renewed detentions, including for scores of their clients, without transporting detainees to hearings or giving lawyers the opportunity to enter pleas.
Between May 2 and May 9, Supreme State Security prosecutors and criminal courts - responsible for reviewing pretrial detention beyond five months - extended pretrial detention almost automatically for all detainees who were up for renewal.
A lead lawyer at a local human rights organization said that on May 4, 5, and 6, the Cairo and Giza terrorism circuits of the criminal court system renewed the detention of roughly 485, 745, and 414 defendants in over 100 cases.
A senior lawyer at the Cairo-based Arab Network for Human Rights Information told Human Rights Watch that Supreme State Security prosecutors have, since May 2, similar to the criminal courts, renewed the detention of almost all defendants in cases they oversee without hearings.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution and criminal courts rarely release detainees from pretrial detention or present evidence justifying continued detention.
The report, titled “Detained at Pleasure: Institutionalised Human Rights Breaches”, lists nine detainees by their initials who have been incarcerated for many years and have not been tried before the court as they were detained at the Governor General or Court's Pleasure.
LF has been incarcerated for 19 years, at the Governor General's Pleasure for the offences of house breaking and larceny as well as assault at common law.
AM has been incarcerated for 45 years, at the Governor General's Pleasure for an offence of murder.
SD has been incarcerated for 38 years, at the Governor General's Pleasure for an offence of murder.
IP has been incarcerated for 43 years, at the Governor General's Pleasure for an offence of murder.
Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is an American holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. state of Texas, and more generally the emancipation of African-American slaves throughout the former Confederacy of the southern United States. Celebrated on June 19, the word is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth.[1] [2] Juneteenth is recognized as a state holiday or special day of observance in forty-five states.[3]
The holiday is observed primarily in local celebrations. Traditions include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, singing traditional songs such as Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and Lift Every Voice and Sing, and readings by noted African-American writers such as Ralph Ellison and Maya Angelou.[4] Celebrations may include parades, rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, family reunions, park parties, historical reenactments, or Miss Juneteenth contests.[5] The Mascogos, descendants of Black Seminoles, of Coahuila, Mexico also celebrate the Juneteenth.[6]
During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863. It declared all slaves to be freed in the Confederate States of America in rebellion and not in Union hands. This excluded the five states known later as border states, which were the four slave states that were not in rebellion—Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, and Missouri—and those counties of Virginia soon to form the state of West Virginia, and also the three zones under Union occupation: the state of Tennessee, lower Louisiana and Southeast Virginia.
More isolated geographically, Texas was not a battleground, and thus its slaves were not affected by the Emancipation Proclamation unless they escaped.[7] Planters and other slaveholders had migrated into Texas from eastern states to escape the fighting, and many brought their slaves with them, increasing by the thousands the number of slaves in the
Another case of heavy-handed law enforcement from an SANDF soldier has been reported in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalnga. We've got the latest here.
[Daily Trust] Controversy is raging over the issue of power shift to the South at the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure in 2023.
The Japanese Self Defence Forces (JSDF) held their annual fire power exercise on Saturday
[Shabelle] A Kenya Defence Forces aircraft crash-landed at Dhobley Airstrip, Somalia, on Monday on take off to Nairobi.
China's ruling communist party on Thursday marked the 100th anniversary of its founding with a lavish ceremony in Tiananmen Square.
June 28, 2021 (MEKELLE) – An official of the State Interim Administration of Ethiopia's Tigray region has called for ceasefire as Tigrayan fighters (...)
Tension between Amhara and Tigray, two of Ethiopia's most powerful regions, is increasing as the country approaches elections next year, says a new International Crisis Group report.
But it is the dispute between the Amhara and Tigray regions, the new report says, that “is arguably the bitterest of these contests, fueled in part by rising ethnic nationalism in both regions.”
William Davison, the Crisis Group’s senior analyst for Ethiopia, tells VOA that Amhara citizens believe that several key zones, notably the Wolqait and Raya areas, were annexed by Tigray when the current Ethiopian federation was mapped out in the early 1990s.
Plans to hold a vote have led political elites in Tigray and Amhara to adopt increasingly hardline stances toward each other, the report says, noting a recent warning from Prime Minister Abiy that any such act would “result in harm to the country and the people.”
But Dessalegn Chanie Dagnew, chairman of the opposition National Movement of Amhara, said via a messaging app that Ethiopia’s regional map based on ethnic territories has been the root cause of many tensions, not just between the Amhara and Tigray regions, but many others.
Montgomery, AL — Diamond Davis, a 27-year old pregnant mother from Alabama, was arrested for allegedly driving with improper license plates and other non-violent offense.
She was detained overnight at the Montgomery City Jail, where several employees and inmates had already tested positive for the virus.
On April 19, Davis was driving home when she was stopped by police because she was using expired temporary license plates.
Briddell also implied that Davis’ “extreme nonviolent cases” and 16 outstanding warrants justified her arrest and detention.
However, women’s rights advocates believe that Davis was a victim of a vicious cycle of arrests that mainly target Black people, wherein they are given tickets that they can’t afford so they miss court hearings and then get detained when pulled over.
[AIM] Maputo -- The demobilisation and disarming of the militia of Mozambique's main opposition party, Renamo, advanced into the western province of Tete on Wednesday.
On June 4, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama delivereda major speech addressing the relationship between the United States and theMuslim World at Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt. The text of the speech appears below.
Thank you very much. Good afternoon. I am honored to be inthe timeless city of Cairo,and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years,Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning; and for over a century, Cairo Universityhas been a source of Egyptsadvancement. And together, you represent the harmony between tradition andprogress. Im grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the peopleof Egypt.And Im also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and agreeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: Assalaamu alaykum.
We meet at a time of great tension between the United Statesand Muslims around the world - tension rooted in historical forces that gobeyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the Westincludes centuries of coexistence and cooperation, but also conflict andreligious wars. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that deniedrights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in whichMuslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard totheir own aspirations. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity andglobalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions ofIslam.
Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a smallbut potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and thecontinued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilianshas led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only toAmerica and Western countries, but also to human rights. All this has bred morefear and more mistrust.
So long as our relationship is defined by our differences,we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, those who promoteconflict rather than the cooperation that can
The Office of Management and Budget is urging Congress to provide $6.4 billion for the relocation of Afghan refugees. According to The Washington Post, the 'urgent' spending request also included a call for Congress to approve a short-term extension in government funding to prevent a partial government shutdown on October 1. RELATED: 'We Will Not Forget' 13 Service Members Killed in Afghanistan Identified Government funding is set to expire at the end of September, meaning lawmakers need to authorize temporary funding through a 'continuing resolution.' 'We are also calling on Congress to include additional funding in a CR to help address two other […]
The post White House Urging Congress to Pass Emergency Funding for Afghan Refugees appeared first on BNC.
By CARA ANNA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Up to 200,000 refugees could pour into Sudan while fleeing the deadly conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, officials said Wednesday, while the first details are emerging of largely cut-off civilians under growing strain. Nearly 10,000 people have crossed the border, including some wounded in the fighting, and the flow is growing quickly. 'There are lots of children and women,' Al-Sir Khalid, the head of the refugee agency in Sudan's Kassala province, told The Associated Press. 'They are arriving very tired and exhausted. They are hungry and thirsty […]
The post Sudan braces for up to 200,000 fleeing Ethiopia fighting appeared first on Black News Channel.
By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia's situation is 'spiraling out of control with appalling impact on civilians' and urgently needs outside monitoring, the United Nations human rights chief warned Wednesday, but Ethiopia is rejecting calls for independent investigations into the deadly fighting in its Tigray region, saying it 'doesn't need a baby-sitter.' The government's declaration came amid international calls for more transparency into the month-long fighting between Ethiopian forces and those of the fugitive Tigray regional government that is thought to have killed thousands, including civilians. At least one large-scale massacre has been documented by human […]
The post UN: Ethiopia's conflict has 'appalling impact on civilians' appeared first on Black News Channel.
Nine persons, including eight policemen and one civilian, were feared killed on Thursday in Isanlu, Kogi State when a gang of armed robbers launched an attack on a branch of a first-generation bank in the town.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that among those killed were the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the town, five other policemen and two policewomen.
Sources indicated that while the DPO, the two policewomen and four policemen were killed at the police station, one policeman was killed at the bank's premises.
The armed robbers were said to have invaded the police station at about 1.00 p.m. and opened fire on all officers and men on duty.
The source said the police station was completely destroyed by the armed robbers who also set free all detainees in the detention facility.
General Mark Milley, a top military official, has apologized for participating in President Trump's walk to St. John's Church near the White House, after law enforcement forcibly cleared protesters.
In a video commencement address to the National Defense University, the nation's top military officer, General Mark Milley, said he was sorry.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff apologized for being part of the entourage that accompanied President Trump across Lafayette Square from the White House over to a nearby church for a photo op.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARK MILLEY: As many of you saw, the result of the photograph of me at Lafayette Square last week - that sparked a national debate about the role of the military in civil society.
And this comes in the wake of Defense Secretary Mark Esper's distancing himself from the White House, saying he didn't agree that active troops should have been used or could have been used in the - against the protesters, although the president was basically saying, I'm going to use the military to dominate.
